Paul Krugman discussed how the Republicans won in the midterm elections despite being wrong about pretty much everything. Kurt Eichenwald has more in Vanity Fair looking at many of the things conservatives were wrong about over the past thirty years. Although the list is far from complete, I’d suggest checking out the full article for the specifics. Topics covered include:
- Tax cuts pay for themselves
- Deregulating the Thrift Industry Will Save It
- Iraq I: The Tilt
- Giving Iranian Moderates Weapons Will Help America
- Raising Taxes Will Cause a Recession
- Abolishing Some Bank Regulations Will Help the Economy
- The U.S.–led Bombing of Yugoslavia Would Be a Disaster
- Bin Laden Was a Front for Iraq
- Iraq 2: W.M.D.s and a Short, Inexpensive War
- Obamacare
Many people have given different ideas regarding the other part of the question as to how the Republicans won. Fivethirtyeight.com looked at one issue from polling data in Iowa. They found that, “White voters in Iowa without a college degree have shifted away from the Democratic Party.”
Loss of white working class votes has been a problem for Democrats for several election cycles, and was most pronounced in the 2012 elections. It will be interesting to see if there is any reduction in this trend when Barack Obama is no longer on the ticket. This is certainly not exclusively an issue based upon a black president. The Republicans have depended upon the southern strategy since the 1960’s, using this in the south along with provoking racial fears to gain the votes of less educated white voters in the north.
